


Just a thought

by prototyping



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Romance, but not sorry enough to refrain from posting it, i'd tag it as pining but he's always pining so, quick fic, the punchline is dumb and this whole fic is dumb and i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23191918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prototyping/pseuds/prototyping
Summary: “Are you sure there’s nothing you wanted?”That was a complicated question with some complicated answers. It made him pause.In the end Dimitri answered, “Yes, I’m certain.”
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 8
Kudos: 147





	Just a thought

“Professor—”

Byleth turned around quicker than expected, the stack of books and papers in her arms teetering dangerously, and Dimitri’s hand shot out on anxious reflex—only to smack the entire bundle out of her grip and onto the floor behind her desk.

Guilt bubbled in his throat as shame instantly colored his face. “I’m—I’m so sorry! I didn’t—please, allow me to—” He dropped to his knees and narrowly avoided butting heads with her as she did the same. “My sincerest apologies, Professor, I—I didn’t mean to—”

“Dimitri.” She caught his hand and held it until he looked at her. Her easy smile made his heart skip a beat. “It’s fine, really. I’ve made worse messes.” A flicker of disappointment jolted through him as her touch retreated and she started gathering the scattered materials. “Just help me clean up and we’ll call it even.”

“Y-Yes. Of course.” He began collecting the papers in silence, too embarrassed to say anything else.

“Was there something you wanted?” she wondered after a few moments of this.

“Ah…” Yes, but Dimitri hardly felt like asking her to tea now. He would much rather avoid her for the rest of the day and relive his humiliation in his mind’s eye in solitary peace. “No, it’s… not important.”

He caught her skeptical look in the corner of his eye, but Byleth didn’t press.

When she turned to the side, Dimitri stole a longer glimpse at her profile. He was certain nothing about her had changed other than the color of her eyes and hair, and yet… she seemed different since that day in the Sealed Forest. He couldn’t put his finger on it. She didn’t seem as downcast as before, so achieving her revenge must have lifted her mood. Perhaps she simply carried herself differently, and that was all it was.

Her eyes met his and he jumped slightly, quickly dropping his gaze.

As if reading his mind, she asked, “Still not used to it?” Her tone was sympathetic with a shade of teasing.

“Oh—no, that isn’t...” He stammered and managed to drop a couple sheets, wincing when they slid out of reach. “I should be asking you that,” he countered apologetically. “I imagine it’s been an odd change to adjust to.”

“Not really. I think most people are past yelling in surprise when they see me now.”

He couldn’t tell whether it was a joke or not.

“I don’t really look at myself all that often,” Byleth went on with a one-shouldered shrug, “so it’s still a surprise when I get up in the morning. It’s strange, but it’s not like it bothers me.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. I think it looks lovely. It’s fitting. Or—it suits you, rather. In my opinion.” Dimitri clamped his jaw shut, bewildered and annoyed by his thoughtless rambling. What was _wrong_ with him? Saying such things—he was letting himself become much too casual around her. Such presumptuousness bordered on disrespect, surely.

He risked a glance up and was startled to find her watching him with a crooked smile. Her gaze dropped from his so quickly that he thought he imagined the twinkle of amusement in her eyes, but the lingering quirk of her lips gave her away.

Was she laughing at him? Or did his words actually mean something to her?

Now he really was being presumptuous.

He quietly cleared his throat as he tapped his stack of papers against the floor, and then held it out towards her. “At any rate—I apologize again for my clumsiness. Truly.”

Byleth took the stack, but her eyes were on his face in an unnervingly studious look. “Thank you. Are you sure there’s nothing you wanted?”

That was a complicated question with some complicated answers. It made him pause.

In the end Dimitri answered, “Yes, I’m certain.”

If she was skeptical of that response, she didn’t show it. “Well,” she said thoughtfully, slowly, “while I have you alone, I guess it’s as good a time as any to bring this up. I want to apologize, too—for the other night.”

Ah.

Dimitri looked down, eyes fixed on the stack of books without seeing them.

“What happened was—unprofessional of me,” she went on. “I put you in a bad position. You’ve done a lot for me lately, and that…” She shook her head with a small frown. “That wasn’t fair to you.”

Despite all his awkward fumbling so far, now Dimitri looked her in the eye without hesitation, his voice even. “There’s nothing to apologize for, Professor. I assure you, I took no offense.” He hesitated. Drew a short breath. “If the chance presented itself, and I knew it would help you in any way, I would not hesitate to do so again.”

Too much. He’d said too much.

Even as Dimitri kept his expression carefully neutral, he inwardly berated himself for the forward remark. This was the Goddess Tower all over again and now he would have to play it off as though he hadn’t been hoping for a response—

“Would you really?”

Byleth’s reply caught him off guard. Her tone was a quizzical one, her eyebrows knit ever so slightly in a curious look.

His mouth was dry.

“Yes.” His heart hammered as his boldness took another dangerous step forward: “And if not to help you, then to at least correct any impressions I might have given you before. Looking back now, I’m afraid I may have come off… rather cold at the time.”

It hadn’t been a proper kiss.

Not really.

He wasn’t sure it even counted as one, and yet the thought of it had chewed at him for the last week. Byleth had arguably not been in her right mind at the time, as distressed and broken as she still was over Jeralt’s passing. Dimitri had been there to sit with her, to speak with her, and, on one particular and recent evening, to hold her when she leaned into him and held tight. That moment somehow led to a clumsy bumping of their mouths that he neither objected to nor encouraged, that was over in a heartbeat as though it had never happened.

Neither of them had mentioned it until now, although he had thought about it plenty. He had feared that Byleth regretted it, that she didn’t remember, that maybe it had been too brief and sporadic to mean anything to her and he was overthinking it. Perhaps these things simply happened sometimes, he had mused, and he was too much of a smitten schoolboy to let it go.

And then he had pondered the opposite, that maybe she had been expecting more than the mild response he gave and she was disappointed. 

For a long, anxious, painful moment Byleth said nothing. Dimitri’s hands began to sweat inside his gloves.

“There was nothing cold about you, Dimitri,” she said finally, gently. “For as long as I’ve known you, there never has been.”

That probably should have flattered him, but it only made his stomach twist. She was wrong, of course. What was he when spilling blood in rage and twisted ecstasy, if not ice cold and uncaring?

He looked away, smiling grimly. “I would not go that far, Professor.”

Unexpectedly, she leaned forward and placed her hand atop his. “Of course you wouldn’t,” she countered a little more sternly. “You have something good to say about everyone but yourself.”

“That’s…”

“But no, there were no bad impressions,” she went on, before that pause could become too awkward. “But… I would do things differently, given the chance.”

Dimitri fought to keep his disappointment off his face. She _did_ regret it. “I… see.”

“I’d try to kiss you better than I did. Especially if I knew it would worry you like this.”

It took him a moment to understand her. Byleth’s face remained impassive, even as Dimitri felt a hot blush work its way up his neck.

“I… I wouldn’t say it— _worries_ me. I was just concerned that you might…” Her hand suddenly felt much heavier on his despite not moving.

There was an opportunity here, he knew, and his face grew hotter at the thought.

And yet—he had already made a fool of himself thus far. What was one more chance of embarrassment?

“Rather… that _I_ might not have the chance to set it right.”

He held his breath without meaning to. While he had made his words as passive as possible and done his best to seem casual, he had still offered himself up to complete rejection and expected nothing less. He expected her to look confused or even ignore that remark entirely and finally withdraw from the conversation, putting an end to his tentative hopes at last. 

Instead, Byleth asked simply, “Would you like to?”

He stared. “I’m—I’m sorry?”

To his dismay, her hand released his. “Sorry. Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to—”

“No—” Dimitri caught hold of her fingers, willing himself to be as gentle as possible despite the pulse thundering in his ears. “Ah—forgive me—I wasn’t refusing. On the contrary, if… it’s alright with you, then… yes. I wouldn’t mind—no, I would _like_ to.” He hesitated, and then pushed out haltingly, “Kiss you. Again. Professor.”

Her bright eyes seemed to study every part of his face in the space of a couple heartbeats. It was more than enough time for doubt to creep back in and make Dimitri wonder if he had messed up, said too much, pushed too far.

“Okay,” she replied.

The air left his lungs as she settled fully on her knees and watched him expectantly.

Just like that?

“You’re… you’re certain?” he asked.

She gave a short nod. “Are you?”

That steadied his resolve.

Dimitri moved closer, wondering what her thoughts were as her eyes followed him. Since she made no other movement, he raised a hand, paused, and when she didn’t react he touched his palm carefully to her cheek. She didn’t lean into it, didn’t react at all other than giving his face another brief once over.

It had simply _happened_ last time—no buildup or warning or even any real thought. With that in mind, he shushed his nerves and leaned in before he could second-guess himself again, but a little too fast: the quick breath he tried to take first resulted in him kissing her with an open mouth.

He froze immediately. Before he could decide whether to pull away or keep going or try to correct it, Byleth parted her lips to kiss him in kind.

It was nothing like the first time.

She was so warm—her mouth, her hands, her skin through his gloves. She was focused on him this time, on kissing him in earnest, brushing and tugging his lips in tender movements that made his blood run hotter. She touched him, his face and shoulders and chest and arms with slow, lazy curiosity and Goddess he wished she would never stop—

He dared to kiss her more deeply and suddenly her arms were around him, firm and beckoning. He leaned forward and over her on hands and knees to press flush against her chest, his kiss now unabashedly hungry, and she met him with equal fervor.

Knowing Byleth craved this as much as he did was just as rewarding as the kiss itself.

The reason for doing this was already long gone from Dimitri’s mind. There was only admiration and attraction, lust and the burning desire to please her, to give her anything she asked of him. When she leaned backwards, he took them the rest of the way until she was flat on her back, his arm cushioning her head from the stone floor.

He went still when he felt her legs slip around his waist, locking her knees over his hips and settling her squarely against his lap.

They fit together so _perfectly_ , it was as though their bodies were made for one another.

He pressed himself closer, giving her a little of his weight, and drank in her soft moan greedily.

Her tongue found his. He caressed her thigh. She arched up against him and it was impossible to ignore the warmth between her legs and how they tightened around him and her strong fingers were combing through his hair now, pressing his mouth to hers until it hurt but even the pain was wonderful.

His gauntlet snagged on her leggings and he was suddenly, sorely tempted to rip them off of her. He wanted to crack open her torso’s armor with a flick of his hand, to tear the collar from her throat with his teeth, and then to be gentle again as he touched and explored her skin—all of it a silent promise that his strength was only ever meant to serve her, _never_ to hurt her—

_“Dimitri.”_

He blinked.

Byleth was staring at him, her searching expression now a concerned frown.

The two of them were still crouched behind her desk, his outstretched hand lingering between them after having handed over her papers.

“Are you okay?” she pressed.

It took him a moment to fully wrench himself back to reality, but Dimitri quickly nodded. “Yes—I’m very sorry. You were saying?”

She cocked her head. “I said, are you sure there’s nothing you wanted?”

“Oh—right. No, please don’t worry about it.” He gathered her tall stack of books in one hand and stood up, offering her the other.

On her feet, Byleth still looked uncertain. “It isn’t like you to space out. And you look flushed. Are you coming down with something?”

His face grew warmer as he avoided her eyes. “Well, I suppose I can’t… discredit the possibility…”

She sighed softly. “Please don’t push yourself so hard. You could give Felix a run for his money with all the time you’ve been spending at the training grounds. You need to rest more.”

Perhaps she was onto something, considering he was having such shameless thoughts in her presence now.

“I’ll—I’ll keep that in mind, Professor.”

She didn’t look totally pleased with that answer, but she accepted it. Nodding at the books, she added, “You wouldn’t be headed toward the library, would you?”

He was now.

“Yes, actually. Can I carry these for you?”

**Author's Note:**

> This was 100% inspired by [this lovely fanart](https://twitter.com/llldmlslll/status/1239148671171624960?s=21) on Twitter and I’m well aware I didn’t do it justice with this dumb little fic but _sometimes you just want to write makeouts without committing to a plot and that's how it be_


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